I've been reworking the Legend character creation rules for my campaign and have reworked the Profession list for my own purposes. I plan to release my revised Adventurer Creation system as OGC at some point when I've finished tweaking it, but I thought I'd post the working draft here for feedback.

I decided to place more emphasis on the choice of profession by reducing the number of Free Skill Points that characters receive to 200 (rather than 250) and giving each profession 50 additional points. I allow players to select up to three professions, reducing the number of free skill points by 100 for each additional profession selected beyond the first. Thias allows players to create adventurers with complex backstories if they wish.

I've also added a large number of new professions designed for fantasy settings that lie somewhere on the scale between traditional Swords & Sorcery (Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, C.L. Moore, etc) and modern Grimdark Fantasy (e.g. Glen Cook, Joe Abercrombie, George R.R. Martin, David Gemmel, Daniel Polansky, Luke Scull, Mark Lawrence, et al). I may extend this list to include a few professions based upon Gothic Horror (e.g. Inquisitor, Demonic Cultist, Vampire Hunter, etc).

I explained the rationale behind this change in another thread a while back, but for those who missed that discussion my aim is to make Professions more important to starting characters by treating them more like starter templates whilst still allowing some degree of individualisation and customisation. This would have the additional benefit of speeding up character creation and providing clearer roles for new players. To ensure that members of the same profession don't all end up exactly the same, this approach allows players to choose from several meaningful skill options WITHIN each profession. I'm not sure I've got the balance right yet, but it's certainly getting closer. In the standard Legend rules, the choice of profession seems to be less important than the way the free skill points are allocated - the number of points allocated to a profession (50) is dwarfed by the number of free skill points available (250). The revised approach offered here changes the balance to make the choice of profession more significant. Players can still customise their adventurers to some extent, but the choice of profession carries more weight and encourages a greater degree of thematic consistency.

Some of the professions listed below reference new skills that I've added to the game system - I'm happy to post these as well if people are interested.

The professions listed below fully support the additional Cultural Backgrounds released in recent Legend products, even though my version of them is quite different to the official versions. Once again, I'm happy to post these if anybody is interested.

Anyway....here is the current draft of the revised Profession list that I developed for my campaign. Any feedback at all would be welcome.

Bandit / Brigand
Cultural Background: Barbarian, Civilised
Common Skills: Athletics +5%, Evade +10%, Lore (Region) +10%, Resilience +5%, Stealth +10%
Advanced Skills: Select any two of the following skills and receive both of them with a +10% bonus: Intimidation, Lore (Nature), Streetwise, Survival. Select one of the remaining skills and receive it at the base score.
Combat Styles: Pick any one Combat Styles appropriate to your culture, receiving it at a +10% bonus.
Magic Skills: None.

Caravan GuardCultural Background: Barbarian, CivilisedCommon Skills: Athletics +5%, Evade +5%, Evaluate +5%, Resilience +10%, Riding +10%, Unarmed +5%Advanced Skills: Select one of the following skills and receive it with a +10% bonus: Commerce, Command, Intimidation, Lore (Logistics), Lore (Geography), Navigation, Profession (Soldier), Survival. Then select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: Pick any two Combat Styles appropriate to your culture, receiving one at a +20% bonus and the other at a +10% bonus.Magic Skills: None.

Cat BurglarCultural Background: Civilised, DecadentCommon Skills: Athletics +20%, Evaluate +10%, Perception +10%, Stealth +10%Advanced Skills: Acrobatics at +10% and select one of the following skills and receive it at +10%: Disguise, Fast Talk, Mechanisms, Profession (Thief), Streetwise. Then select another one of the advanced skills from the list and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: None. Magic Skills: None.

CourtierCultural Background: Civilised, Decadent, DepravedCommon Skills: Influence +20%, Insight +10%, Lore (Region) +10%, Perception +5%, Sleight or Dance +5%Advanced Skills: Select two of the following skills and receive them at +10%: Courtesy, Intrigue, Lore (Art), Lore (Heraldry), Lore (Philosophy), Play Instrument. Then select another one of the advanced skills from the list and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: None. Magic Skills: None.

CourtesanCultural Background: Civilised, Decadent, DepravedCommon Skills: Dance or Sing +5%, Evaluate +5%, Influence +10%, Insight +10%, Perception +5%, Persistence +5%.Advanced Skills: Seduction at +20% plus select one of the following skills and receive it at +10%: Courtesy, Intrigue, Lore (Philosophy), Play Instrument, Oratory. Also select another one of the advanced skills from the list and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: None. Magic Skills: None.

CraftsmanCultural Background: All
Common Skills: Evaluate +20%, Influence +5%, Insight +5%, Persistence +10%.Advanced Skills: Craft (Any) at +20% plus select one of the following skills and receive it at +10%: Craft (Other), Commerce, Engineering, Mechanisms. Then select another one of the advanced skills from the list and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: None. Magic Skills: None.

ExecutionerCultural Background: Civilised, Decadent, DepravedCommon Skills: Athletics +5%, Brawn +10%, First Aid +5%, Insight +10%, Persistence +10%, Advanced Skills: Select two of the following of the following skills, receiving one at a +20% bonus and the other at a +10% bonus: Healing, Intimidation, Lore (Law), Mechanisms, Profession (Executioner), Streetwise. In addition, select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: Two-Handed Axe at +10%Magic Skills: None

GypsyCultural Background: Civilised, DecadentCommon Skills: Culture (Gypsy) +10%, Dance +10%, Drive (Gypsy Wagon) +10%, Evade +5%, Evaluate or Influence +5%, Sleight or Stealth +10% Advanced Skills: Select one of the following skills and receive them at +10%: Commerce, Lore (Fortune Telling), Play Instrument, Seduction, Streetwise. Then select another two of the listed advanced skills and receive them at the base score.Combat Styles: Select one of the following combat styles: Knife Fighting or Sap at +10%Magic Skills: None.

Knight / ChampionCultural Background: CivilisedCommon Skills: Athletics or Brawn +5%, Influence +5%, Riding +10%Advanced Skills: Select two of the following skills at +10%: Courtesy, Culture (Other), Lore (Heraldry), Oratory, Play Instrument, Profession (Soldier). Then select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: Pick any two Combat Styles appropriate to your culture, receiving one at a +20% bonus and the other at a +10% bonus.Magic Skills: None.

MercenaryCultural Background: Barbarian, Nomad, Civilised, DecadentCommon Skills: Athletics +10%, Evade +5%, Evaluate +5%, Resilience +10%, Riding +5%, Unarmed +5%Advanced Skills: Select one of the following skills and receive it with a +10% bonus: Command, Intimidation, Lore (Logistics), Lore (Tactics), Profession (Soldier). Then select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: Pick any two Combat Styles appropriate to your culture, receiving one at a +20% bonus and the other at a +10% bonus.Magic Skills: None.

MysticCultural Background: Civilised, EnlightenedCommon Skills: Insight +20%, Influence +5%, Lore (Regional) +5%, Persistence +10%Advanced Skills: Meditation at +20% plus select one of the following skills and receive it with a +10% bonus: Healing, Language (Ancient), Lore (Philosophy), Oratory. In addition, select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: None. Magic Skills: None by default, although many acquire Divine Magic during their later career.

NecromancerCultural Background: Civilised, Decadent, DepravedCommon Skills: Persistence +10% and either Influence +10% or Insight +10%Advanced Skills: Lore (Undead) at +10% plus plus select one of the following skills and receive it with a +10% bonus: Language (Ancient), Lore (Arcane), ResearchCombat Styles: None. Magic Skills: Sorcery (Grimoire) at +10% plus Manipulate and Ritual Magic, both at the base score. Learned spells should have a necromantic theme.

ScholarCultural Background: Civilised, DecadentCommon Skills: Culture (Own) +10%, Evaluate +5%, Lore (Region) +5%, Persistence +10%Advanced Skills: Select two of the following of the following skills, receiving one at a +20% bonus and the other at a +10% bonus: Culture (Other), Language (Ancient), Language (Other), Lore (Any), Profession (Scholar), Research. In addition, select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: None Magic Skills: None

ScribeCultural Background: Civilised, DecadentCommon Skills: Culture (Own) +10%, Language (Own) +20%, Lore (Region) +5%, Persistence +5%Advanced Skills: Select two of the following of the following skills, receiving one at a +20% bonus and the other at a +10% bonus: Craft (Bookbinding), Craft (Calligraphy), Craft (Cartography), Culture (Other), Language (Ancient), Language (Other), Profession (Scribe). In addition, select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: NoneMagic Skills: None

Street Thug (Footpad)Cultural Background: Civilised, DecadentCommon Skills: Athletics +5%, Evade +10%, Lore (Region) +10%, Resilience +5%, Stealth +10%, Unarmed +20%Advanced Skills: Select one of the following of the following skills and receive it at +10%: Fast Talk, Intimidation, Profession (Footpad), Streetwise. In addition, select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: Select one of the following combat styles: Cudgel or Knifefighting or Sap at +10%Magic Skills: None

TorturerCultural Background: Civilised, Decadent, DepravedCommon Skills: First Aid +5%, Influence +10%, Insight +10%, Perception +5%, Persistence +10%, Advanced Skills: Select two of the following of the following skills, receiving one at a +20% bonus and the other at a +10% bonus: Healing, Intimidation, Investigation, Lore (Torture), Mechanisms, Profession (Torturer), Streetwise. In addition, select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: NoneMagic Skills: None

WoodsmanCultural Background: Barbarian, Civilised, PrimitiveCommon Skills: Athletics +10%, Brawn +5%, Lore (Region) +10%, Resilience +10%, Stealth +5%Advanced Skills: Select two of the following skills and receive both of them at +10%: Animal Handling, Herbalism, Lore (Nature), Profession (Forester), Survival, Track. In addition, select another one of the listed advanced skills and receive it at the base score.Combat Styles: Select one of the following combat styles: Axe or Archery at +10%Magic Skills: None

Last edited by Prime_Evil on Sat May 07, 2016 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The other cultural types are mostly from Morten's excellent Xoth adventures adapted for Legend a while back. I highly recommend these if you don't already have them. Unfortunately, the adaptations didn't follow the mathematics behind the existing Legend cultural archetypes so I came up with my own versions. Because the names of the cultural archetypes are included in NPC statblocks in the Pathfinder version of these adventures, they are included in the OGC declaration, so developing my own versions should be OK

My main contribution is formalising the notion that the Cycle of Civilisation should underlie the game system. This may require some explanation. Many classic fantasy works were written in the pulp era and were influenced by contemporary notions about the birth, evolution, and decline of human civilisations. This is a central theme in the works of Robert E. Howard, but also appears in notions about ancient survivals in the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. Even for high fantasy authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, the decline of human civilisation from a lost golden age was a significant theme, best expressed in elegiac prose. Many early fantasy authors drew concepts from the esoteric cosmology of Theosophy, with its notions that human evolution passed through a number of evolutionary stages in a grand cycle from primitive barbarism to either enlightened detachment or decadence and decline.(Even Tolkien was exposed to the concepts of theosophy through his close friendship with Owen Barfield, who was a disciple of Rudolph Steiner). Eventually, the last depraved remnants of the previous cycle are swept away by a new generation of barbarian tribes who arise out of primitive savagery, beginning the cycle anew. Barbarian cultures start out vigorous, but civilisation has a corrupting influence that is impossible to avoid. This cycle is endless and plays out against a backdrop of utter cosmic indifference - it extends back into pre-human times, where humanity is merely the most recent sentient species to arise on the campaign world (cleansing the depraved pre-human culture of the Serpent Folk).

Occasionally, a small enclave from a previous cycle may survive in a state of enlightened grace - the archetype is the mystical valley of Shangri-La from James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon, but echoes of this notion appear as far afield as the works of Abraham Merritt and Lothlorien in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Enlightenment is always depicted as a precarious state that cannot survive contact with the outside world. Usually, the incursion of outsiders (adventurers) leads indirectly to the collapse of the tranquil enclave.

Robert E. Howard expressed it best in his famous quote from Beyond the Black River (1935), where he wrote that "“Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph”. This is a very pessimistic view of human nature that denies the possibility of moral progress, but it underlies an awful lot of classic fantasy literature. The inherent tendency of all mature civilisations towards decadence and moral decay is a central concern of fantasy literature. I would go so far as to say that a sense of transience and the vanity of human ambitions is a core theme of Swords and Sorcery fiction. Even Tolkien notes that evil always arises again in a new form and the victories of those who stand for the values of civilisations built of principles of justice are always temporary and bought at great cost. So the endless cycle of barbarism and civilisation is central to the vision of my own custom version of Legend and is repeatedly referenced. .

Not just in fantasy works. You can see it very clearly in the SciFi works of Poul Anderson - his Polestechnic league fell to barbarians and from the ashes arose the Terran Empire, which fell into decay and was crushed which lead to the later rise of the Commonality.

Rikki Tikki Traveller wrote:Not just in fantasy works. You can see it very clearly in the SciFi works of Poul Anderson - his Polestechnic league fell to barbarians and from the ashes arose the Terran Empire, which fell into decay and was crushed which lead to the later rise of the Commonality.

It is very Norse...

Definitely. Poul Anderson's SF is a very good example of what James Maliszewski refers to as Imperial SF - the classic science fiction written in the shadow of the second world war. He argues that:

Imperial SF writers were profoundly influenced by a number of historians, such as Edward Gibbon, Oswald Spengler, and Arnold J. Toynbee. Although their approaches and conclusions were quite different, each of them studied the causes of the rise and fall of great civilizations. Following the wreck of World War I, which cemented the unraveling of the Victorian world, it became fashionable among many intellectuals to see Western civilization as headed toward an inescapable decline, a view made all the more plausible by the rise of fascism and Communism and the seeming collapse of capitalism in the Great Depression.
Many Imperial SF writers lived through these turbulent times and thus found it easy to buy into the theories of historians who predicted inevitable doom and the rise of a new Dark Age. Unsurprisingly, many Imperial SF stories are filled with analogs of the Roman Empire in its final days, decadent and teetering on the brink of collapse with neo-barbarians at the gates. Of course, this theme is mitigated by several factors, including the rejection of historical necessity and the championing of free will. While it may be that all civilizations inevitably collapse, the time and circumstances of any collapse is not pre-ordained and the actions of one person — or a group of persons — can stand athwart history and yell “Stop!” Likewise, just as the end of the Roman Empire ushered in the Middle Ages, so too might the end of one galactic era spell not the end of civilization itself but simply of a particular civilization, which will be subsumed and surpassed by its descendant. Thus, imperial SF remains as skeptical of historical inevitability as it does of absolute power.

He also notes that these authors felt that power corrupts even the best of societies:

Imperial SF is — somewhat ironically given its emphasis on mighty empires and powerful star fleets — skeptical of unlimited power. Writers of the genre typically assumed that future humanity would be governed by a benevolent but autocratic empire, a free but corrupt federation, or something in between. Once again, the twin historical precedents or both the Age of Imperialism and World War II are important to consider here. Whether one looks at Victorian Britain’s bearing of “the white man’s burden” or America’s dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan, it’s hard not to become somewhat cynical and this is reflected in the genre.
Nevertheless, it’s also true that Imperial SF writers weren’t wild-eyed utopians. They understood and expected that even the most benevolent and well-intentioned societies are neither above naked self-interest nor immune to the temptations of power. While far from excusing such immorality, Imperial SF writers didn’t view them as uniquely worthy of opprobrium. All societies fall prey to pride and act accordingly; it is only those societies that make consistent positive contributions to civilization whose transgressions we single out as somehow unlike any others in history. Consequently, Imperial SF writers rarely preached from on high, preferring instead to take a longer view that acknowledges that societal corruption is not often so great that it blots out genuine goodness, however haphazardly accomplished.

The same themes are present in the fantasy fiction produced in the 1930s and 1940s, but manifest themselves in slightly different ways. Remember that the pessimistic outlook espoused by Robert E Howard was developed by someone who had lived through the First World War as a teenager and was writing during the Depression - the slow turning of the wheel of history must have seemed obvious in those turbulent days. It would be interesting to know what Howard would have thought of World War II had he survived that long. Also, the bleak cosmicism of Lovecraft was developed at a time when the certainties of classical science were unravelling - the world saw the relativity, quantum mechanics, and Hubble's revelation that the universe was much bigger than our own galaxy in less than two decades. Amazing stuff, but in the hands of a horror author it provided a way to highlight the limitations of humanity and the smallness of its place in the universe. And as for Tolkien, he actually served in World War I and saw action on the Somme. The earliest portions of what would become the Silmarillion (the fall of Gondolin) were written in the trenches. And while he was writing the Lord of the Rings, his son was serving in the RAF against the Nazi threat during World War II. The feel of evil in the Lord of the Rings is deeply informed by Tolkien's own wartime experiences. The sense that civilisation could suddenly be swept away by a Dark Lord arising from a previous defeat probably had a lot more force in 1939 than many people realize, even though Tolkien did not intend it as a direct allegory.

It is no accident that the next prominent wave of fantasy fiction arose during the 1960s and was linked to the counter-culture of that period, with an emphasis on protagonists who were perpetual outsiders. Look at Michael Moorcock's doomed albino prince exiled from his homeland or Fritz Leiber's Grey Mouser - a thief on the fringes of society who lives by his wits alone. Authors such as Andre Norton gave us a succession of unlikely heroes in coming of age stories set against the backdrop of major political upheavals (e.g. the coming of the hounds of Alizon). And Ursula Le Guin writes about a goat herd named Ged from a remote island who is not from a powerful family when he attends the Wizard's School on Roke (the prototype for Hogwarts). The important thing about most of these works is that they take place at a time when the cycle of history is visible. In Moorcock's Elric saga, the ten-thousand year reign of Melniboné is coming to a violent end and the Higher Powers are stirring for a clash between Law and Chaos in which the shape of the future age will be determined. Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar series chronicle the exploits of a pair of outsiders (a barbarian and a thief) in a great fantasy city that has fallen into decadence. Andre Norton features the Fall of Estcarp in the aftermath of the Turning and the invasion of the Dalelands by the Hounds of Alizon. And Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy climaxes in the Farthest Shore with an acceptance of death and the limitations of human ambition against the slow fade of magic from the world.

Here's my revised version of the Swords and Sorcery cultural backgrounds for those who would like them balanced against the cultural backgrounds from the Core Rulebook. To some extent, these are based upon my own preferences - some of them have skills marked with an asterisk that were originally presented on these messageboards and subsequently included in the Sheoloth book:

I also have a new one for those cultures that have fallen beyond degeneracy to become almost sub-human. This is a common theme in Swords and Sorcery comics, where degeneracy eventually leads to a sub-human state in which incest, cannibalism, and similar vile customs become the norm. The Ganiks from the Horseclans series by Robert Adams are a good example of this, but it is also a staple of the comic-book version of Conan. The difference between degenerate and bestial backgrounds is one of degree rather than kind. Degenerate cultures are usually encountered in lost cities and other isolated locations. A typical example might include the inhabitants of Xuchotil in the Conan story Red Nails. By contrast, by the time a culture descends into a bestial state, it is abandoning the trappings of civilisation entirely. An example might include the sub-humans perversions from the Lovecraft story The Lurking Fear. Note that in the cycle of civilisation, after a few generations bestial remnants of the previous cycle may return to a more "normal" primitive state - beginning the next turn of the cycle. Human history consists of successive cycles of barbarism, civilisation, decadence, depravity, degeneracy, and an eventual fall into a bestial state out of which the next cultures arise. This cycle fits well with the tropes of Swords and Sorcery fiction.

BestialCommon Skills: +30% to Culture (Own) and Lore (Regional). In addition, Bestial Adventurers also receive +20% to Resilience as well as +10% to Brawn and Athletics or Stealth .Combat Styles: Bestial Adventurers choose two Combat Styles from the following list and gain a +10% bonus with each of them: 1H Axe, 1H Hammer, 1H Spear, 2H Hammer, Blowgun, Bow, Dagger, Sling, Spear and Shield.Advanced Skills: All Bestial Adventurers receive the following Advanced Skills: Language (Native) +50%, Survival, Track. In addition, Adventurers receive one additional Advanced Skill from the following list: Herbalism, Intimidation, Healing, Lore (Nature), Survival.